


Degausser

by Quubi



Category: Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Cats, Gaara learning to accept his depression, Gen, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Lawyer Gaara, Other, Suicidal Thoughts, Suicide Attempt, Things get better I swear, coming to terms with depression, sand sibs being cuties
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-26
Updated: 2018-04-26
Packaged: 2019-04-08 09:26:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,704
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14102397
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Quubi/pseuds/Quubi
Summary: Gaara decides to get a pet to liven up his apartment and life and it turns out to be a lot more than he expected to take on.





	1. Nobody Moves

The bottles were empty and he felt emptier. Laying on the couch floating in and out of nothingness surrounded by the empty pill bottles and bottles of cheap red wine he could hear the banging on the door, echoing loud and jarringly in the quietness inside his head and empty apartment. He breathed out what felt lie a last breath, finally letting himself fall into the abyss and darkness behind his eyes.

_________________

 

“Don’t worry about work, I’ve let the higher ups know that your currently sick and are on bed rest due to doctors’ orders for now” Kankuro told his younger brother, Gaara sat in the back seat of the cat looking at him through the rear-view mirror.

Sick. Sick isn’t what the younger of the two had been feeling. Sick to his stomach maybe, still tired and sore from having his stomach pumped, body still heavy from being brought back from the brink of death. Mostly, Gaara was feeling empty. Empty and tired, but not sick. If anything, He was felt stupid from being brought back at all and numb from the pitying looks from nurses and doctors over the last few days, telling him how lucky he was, lucky to still be alive, that living was a blessing. Something he should be thankful for. Numb from the hollowed look in his brother and sister’s eyes, holding tight smiles telling Gaara how happy they were that he was still with them.

“They said to take as long as you need to recover and that they would deal with your current work load until you are able to come back to work.” Kankuro told him, stealing another glance at his brother through the mirror.

Gaara only hummed in response, knowing full well that the higher ups expected him back much sooner and what waited for him was a stack of paperwork piled much larger higher than it was previously, the idea of it already overwhelming considering it was already teetering at its current height. That just made Gaara feel even more stupid. Looking out the window at the world passing him by with a rather subdued look. The trees where still green and the flora still blooming in the gardens well kept by their owners. The colors felt mute and dull to him. The two brothers pulled into the parking lot of Gaara’s apartment complex. It was Large and expensive, and honestly it was overly modern for anyone’s tastes. But that’s what money could buy for a top of the line lawyer like Gaara and what was expected from someone held to such high esteem.

Kankuro pulled the car into a parking stall and sat there looking into nothing for a moment, mostly to collect himself before he turned the car off.  The two brothers exited the car with a silence hanging thick and heavy over them. Kankuro walked briskly around to the back of the car, grabbing Gaara’s overnight bag for him from the trunk.

“Ummm… so don’t worry about the mess in your apartment!” Kankuro started, “Temari came and cleaned up it yesterday so you wouldn’t have to…” See it, so he wouldn’t have to see what he had done. Gaara nodded to acknowledge that he understood. Mostly so they wouldn’t have to keep talking about it really. It had been repeated over and over the last few days since he had first woken up in the hospital and he was already feeling tired of it.

“She should be up there now actually, she wanted to have a dinner as a family tonight. She’s cooking up a storm from what she told me earlier” He laughed as they walked through the buildings entrance and into the lounge area. It was full of upscale furniture and various fake plants and fake greener. When Gaara first moved in he was told it was to add ambiance, but to him it was just a reminder of the façade he felt he had been acting out over the last few years.

“Im pretty sure she has Shikadai with her, but I think she told Shikamaru to stay at home.” Kankuro said pressing the call button for the elevator. Gaara nodded and hummed again, not feeling in a talking mood. She probably hadn’t wanted to over crowd him after being released and he was thankful for that much at least, thought he still felt he could have gone without the dinner. Still if it was what she wanted he would put up with it for her. There was a ding and the elevator door opened. Kankuro kept rambling on as the brothers walked in and he pressed the button to the 5th floor.

As soon as they stepped off the elevator the smell of spices filled the hallway, showing off just a taste of what was cooking behind closed doors. They walked towards Gaara’s apartment and the aroma grew stronger. Kankuro opened the door and allowed his younger brother to step in first. For a brief second Gaara’s senses were overwhelmed. How long had it been since anyone had cooked in his kitchen? He had been so busy that all he ever had time for was take out and fast food.

As Gaara stood in the foyer the sickly feeling in his stomach increased tenfold, unsure if it was from his stay in the hospital or the fact that he could feel his anxiety starting to spread through his body from the tips of his toes and fingers, inward. He breathed deeply trying to keep himself in check.

Temari, standing in the kitchen looked up from stirring something in a pot and smiled softly. “Gaara. Welcome home,” she said so soft that it could have been a whisper. She put the spoon she had been stirring with down and walked up to Gaara, pulling him into a tight embrace which he slowly returned, not totally used the physical contact.

Their childhood together had been tense, if anything, and it was only in the last two decades or so that they had started acting as a family. Gaara loved his family really he did, but things were slow going and he felt like it was mostly his own fault. Still he found himself trying to keep himself in check and making the right moves. It was hard when you never knew what the moves were. For a while he was going off the Hollywood picture perfect family was. But this is real life, and Hollywood was a fictional reality that could never encompass that.

Gaara felt Temari inhale sharply and she pulled away, wiping away a tear that had started to fall. Seeing her do that made Gaara’s stomach do a flip, knowing she was crying because of him. He felt himself tense up even more and that sickly feeling continued to grow inside him.

“Im glad,” she started gently. “I made all of your favorites for you!” She said sounding more cheerful, wiping her hands the frilly pink apron on her waist, clearing away imaginary dust. The apron had been a gag gift that Naruto had given Gaara when he first moved into his new home. It was incredibly out of place, far too homely in the shiny stainless steel and marble of the kitchen. Still, seeing Temari wear it left a tight feeling in Gaara’s chest. She grew up to be such an incredible woman. Temari walked back into the kitchen picking back up the spoon to stir the pot again.

 “Shikadai is the table set?” She shouted to her son sat at the dining area where the four-person table, usually covered in files and papers from an unending mountain of work laid, had been cleared and set with plates and cutlery.

“Yeah mom” He grumbled sat at the table playing with his Nintendo. Shikadai was 7 years old and Gaara still remember the day he was born. Temari was crying holding him, exhausted and happy. She was a teen mom but she never let it stop her in life, going on to finish high school and graduate university in record time. Shikadai had the same temperament as his dad, seemingly lazy, too unbothered to really care about much, but still, he was his mother’s child and he could be just as fiery as her.

Gaara walked to the table and sat next to his nephew, who was eating a bun from a basket, probably put on the table by Temari for dinner, and still playing with his Nintendo. Temari came up to the table with the pot she had been stirring and placed it in the middle of the table.

“Good because dinner is ready, Kankuro can you grab the big salad bowl off the counter?” She asked, sitting down on the other side of the Shikadai.

“Yeah yeah” Kankuro replied, grabbing the bowl and sauntered over and placing it on the table, sitting down between myself and Temari.

“Man, you really went all out didn’t you Tem?” He said looking at the small table full of food. Gaara followed Kankuro’s eyes and had to agree that she really had gone all out and made all his favorites just as she said. This small table had not been this full of anything other than precariously stacked files in years. He felt Guilty. Sharp and painful like a hole had been punched through his chest that quickly filled itself with guilt to compensate the loss and it did not mix well with the anxiety he was already feeling. Like how the pills had not mixed well with the alcohol.

“Of course, anything for my favorite little bro” She laughed, packing up Shikadai’s plate with food. She sounded tense. They all did honestly, the elephant in the room was large and suffocating.

 “I’m still here you know!” Kankuro scoffed at her, pretending to sound hurt. She stuck her tongue out at him and laughed. He laughed with her. Gaara could feel the mix of guilt and anxiety coming up, choking him. Coming up and up.

Dinner continued with idle chatter, careful not to talk about anything that could shatter the illusion that everything was ok. Still, Gaara stayed quiet, picking at his food, not hungry but also careful about still taking a few choice bites as to not upset Temari by not eating the dinner she had clearly worked so hard to make.

“Hey uncle did you really die?” Shikadai asked. The room went silent. The sheer violence of the tension of the room was palatable, the edge of the knife they had all be teetering on, cut deeply and Gaara could feel himself falling off the edge. He was shocked and tried hard to open his mouth to say something, yet he sat there helplessly. what do you say to a child about this sort of thing?  Before a sound could make it out Temari started.

“Shikadai!” She shouted at him, voice stern.

“What I was just wo- “He started,

At that point Gaara found himself floating outside of his own body looking down on himself and his family, unable to even hear a word that was being said over the ringing in his ears and the fuzz filling his head. It wasn’t until he was looking at himself in the mirror in the bathroom that he could feel himself snap back into himself, not even sure of how he had gotten from the table to the bathroom.

For the First time in what felt like ages Gaara looked at himself. Really looked at himself, and took in the reflection that stared back at him through the mirror. His brows were knit together tightly, from the anxiety or the stress? Who knew? He certainly didn’t. The bags under his eyes were dark and his skin looked nearly translucent, stretched tautly over his bones, yet sunk in around his eyes and in the hollow of his cheeks, making his cheekbones and jaw appear more prominent than he ever remembered them being. His red hair was greasy from the stay at the hospital and he realized that he had no idea of when he last bathed. Dejectedly, Gaara finally had to agree with what Kankuro had told his bosses at work. He was sick. What kind of person would be where he was now if they weren’t sick. There was a knock at the door that pounded inside my head. Echoing louder and louder. He could feel it echo inside him, coming up and up until he finally spit it up. Coughing and sputtering, filling the sink with bile. Yet it did nothing to quell the anxiety that ravaged his body. Slow, Gaara looked back up to the mirror. A broken man who couldn’t even die properly. Face red and blotchy, stained with salty tears. When had he started crying? Using the sleeves of his sweatshirt he started rubbing at his face while slowly lowering himself to the ground. He sat there curled in on himself, back flush against the tub. His sweatshirt riding up so all he could feel was the cold porcelain of the tub on his exposed back. Still, it had done nothing to bring him back into himself. Trying to will the tears to fall back into his eyes, to erase his weakness and short comings.

 Still rubbing his face with his sleeves, Gaara breathed in filling his lungs and then let a stuttering breath out.


	2. Brothers Song

When he finally got the bathroom to open, Kankuro was more than surprised to see his younger brother sitting on the floor of the bathroom curled in on himself crying silently with his fists balled up into his sleeves pressed against his face. Still, relief spread over him as he realized his brother was only crying and nothing else. Sighing, he sat down on the floor next to his brother and he grabbed Gaara´s ankle seeing as how his hands were clearly occupied. He firmly squeezed Gaara´s ankle to assure him he was there for him. The two sat there quietly for some time.

The sounds of Temari packing up dinner could be heard from the bathroom. Sniffles from both Gaara and Temari could be heard between the sounds of forks and glasses clanging together as they were put in the sink to be washed and food being packed up, hopefully to be eaten at another time.

To put it lightly, dinner had not gone as planned, but for the siblings the whole week had been unplanned, right from the text message that Temari received from Gaara that made her heart pull up into her throat yet drop to her toes at the same time. It was as if her whole world had flipped on its head and she was calling the police and running out of her house with only her car keys in hand, driving barefoot to her brother’s apartment trying to stop the tears from clouding her vision. Truthfully, Temari had been crying a lot since she had found out and she now felt guilty and a fool to think that a family dinner could solve this.

Back in the bathroom, Gaara sighed, letting all of the air out of his lungs as he pulled his balled-up sweater hands away from his face and rested his chin on his knee, placing his still slightly trembling hand on his brothers.

“I’m sorry” Gaara whispered almost unaudiably.

“You don’t have anything to be sorry about.” Kankuro said quietly, grabbing his brothers hand and holding it between both of his, keeping his eyes on their hands and not daring to look up to see what expression his brother could have on his face.

“Still.” Gaara whispered back, also looking down at his hand enveloped by his brothers. A pathetic feeling crawling over his skin. When was the last time he had cried in front of his brother? He could hardly recall after keeping everything in to himself for so long. A panic attack on the first day back from the hospital surely wasn’t a good thing either.

A silence stretched in for what felt like hours but was surely only a few minutes until Kankuro stood up and wiped his hands on the front of his jeans and cleared his throat awkwardly before he turned around and held a hand out to Gaara to help him up. “The doctor wants someone to stay with you for a few days, Temari really wanted to do it but we both know she is so busy with Shikadai and Shikamaru, that lazy bunch,” Kankuro started, laughing a bit to himself. “So, it’s going to be you and me for a few days till you get sick of me”

Gaara smiled tiredly at Kankuro and grabbed his hand and stood up. “I’m already sick of you, better pack your bags and go.” Gaara joked with him laughing a bit himself.

Kankuro let out a hardly laugh and slapped Gaara on the back, then pulled him in under his arm as they walked out of the bathroom together.

Temari was still in the kitchen again stood in front of the stove off into space, when she heard her brothers come out laughing to themselves, she put on a smile and turned around.

“Is everything ok?” She asked nervously.

Gaara nodded and gave her a small smile. “Im sorry about dinner.” He said shyly.

“Pfft, I think it might have been too early for a family dinner” She said coming up to her to brothers and pulling them both into a hug, to which they both returned. The three of them had been disillusioned. Everything that had happened, happened and now they needed to work past it and no overly tense family dinners could solve it.

Gaara hummed softly into the hug when he felt a tug on the back of his sweatshirt. Looking under his arm and behind him he saw Shikadai standing behind him looking rather nervous. Gaara pulled away from his siblings and crouched down to his nephew’s level.

“Hey.” He started softly but was quickly cut off, typical of someone who was the son of his elder sister.

“I’m sorry uncle Gaara” he said looking up at Gaara, who looked a bit taken back.

“Sorry for what? You didn’t do anything wrong Shikadai” Gaara told him, grabbing both of his hands and holding them together in his grasp.

“I made you cry and I didn’t mean to” Shikadai said all misty eyed and started tearing up.

Gaara smiled tiredly at him and pulled him in for a hug. “It’s ok I know you didn’t mean to make me upset, It’s not your fault.” He said giving Shikadai a few awkward pats on the back as his nephew clung to his sweater and started crying. Unsure of what to do Gaara gave him a few more awkward pats on the back before Kankuro came to save him by picking Shikadai up and over his shoulder.

“I guess we are all just going to have to be more careful with what we say around here” Kankuro said laughing. Temari scoffed and swatted him on the shoulder, smiling.

“Starting with you then” she laughed.

“Why do you always gotta bring me down Tem!” Kankuro laughed walking over to the couch and somewhat gently tossing his nephew down onto it and then plopping himself down next to him and starting to play fight. Temari followed laughing at the scene before sitting down on the other side of the couch, cheering her son on.

Gaara looked on at the happy scene, tension had finally left his body and he felt lighter. Still jittery with anxiety, but overall, he felt better. He breathed in deep, fillling his lungs with air before letting it out slowly, trying to sooth his jumpy muscles. Finally, Gaara walked over to his family and sat himself down between his brother and sister, pulling his knees back up to his chest. Temari threw and arm over his shoulders and threw her feet up onto the coffee table while Kankuro continued to bully his nephew. With a slight smile Gaara rested his head on his sister’s shoulder.

It was times like these that Gaara felt that maybe he was Lucky to be alive.

Later the night, Temari was leaving with a sleeping Shikadai in her arms. “alright Gaara, I already picked up the meds from the pharmacy and I marked your first therapy session down on the calendar on the fridge.” Slipping her shoes on, she moved Shikadai from one side to the other shuffling him up higher on her hip so she wouldn’t drop him. “And if Kankuro starts bugging you let me know and I’ll come and teach him a lesson!” she said laughing, before leaning in and giving Gaara a big wet smooch on his cheek.

Gaara scrunched up his face as he wiped the saliva off, but laughed a little nonetheless. Temari tried to give Kankuro one as well but he kicked up a fuss about being too manly for a kiss from his sister. Still she demanded a hug from him which he had no choice but to give in too. As he was pulling away Temari planted a kiss on his cheek and he groaned and about how gross she was. They all laughed as Temari walked out the door with her sleeping son.

Quiet fell over the two brothers once the door shut.

 

“So… I guess I’ll sleep on the couch then?” Kankuro asked running a hand through his hair and looking down to Gaara.

“uh, sure, let me get you some blankets and a pillow” Gaara said, walking off to his bedroom while Kankuro wandered back towards the couch.

As a bachelor, Gaara really didn’t have a lot of extra things like blankets and pillows for guests but he hated being cold so he always had a few extra blankets on his bed. Grabbing one of the several blankets and the other pillow off his bed, Gaara padded back into the living room and handed them to his brother. 

Later, laying in his bed under all his blankets Gaara couldn’t find sleep. He had grown accustom to the sounds of the hospital, never really quiet, yet his own apartment was dark and pressingly silent. Staring up at the ceiling Gaara started tapping his feet together and rubbing his thumb against his index finger. Frustrated, his flipped onto his stomach and shoved both of his arms under his pillow and tried to will himself to sleep.

At some point the door to his roomed opened and Gaara rolled over to see his brother walk in and shut it behind him.

“Your couch is shit and uncomfortable as hell” He grumbled. “move over I’m sleeping here tonight.”

Gaara didn’t even have a chance to protest, not that he would, before he was being pushed to the side to make room for Kankuro. He didn’t mind really and was mostly shuffling over willingly anyways. Kankuro threw down his pillow and curled up onto the bed with his blanket. Gaara just shrugged and flipped onto his other side facing away from his brother and went back to trying to sleep. The feeling of ice on the back of his legs jolted him out of whatever tiredness he was feeling.

“Kankuro!” Gaara squawked as Kankuro let out a laugh. “get your gross cold feet away from me or you can go back to sleeping on the couch!” Gaara groaned flipping back over to glare at his brother.

“sorry not sorry,” Kakuro laughed a bit more “I just can’t get over how quiet it is in here, how do you live here without any noise at all? My neighbors are loud as hell” he grumbled thinking back to his upstairs neighbor, an elderly lady who loves to dance at 8 pm but can’t hear the music unless its blasted loud enough for everyone else to.

Gaara rolled off his side and onto his back to stare up at the ceiling. “you just get used to it I guess, I never really thought it was that quiet.”

“I dunno, I guess it isn’t that quiet, but it just makes your place seem extra empty.” Kankuro said quietly.

              As the two laid there in silence, Gaara thinking over what his brother just said and Kankuro starting to toss and turn to get comfortable, he realized that his apartment did seem a little lonely. It was just him living in a high-end apartment that felt almost unlived in most of the time if not for the piles of paper work on most surfaces.

“Huh, I guess you’re right” Gaara said looking back at his brother only to realize that he had fallen asleep. Looking back up to the ceiling Gaara closed his eyes and tried to sleep himself, focusing on the even breathing of his brother and not the new found heavy silence.


	3. The Quiet Things That No One Ever Knows

A few days passed and Gaara started to grow accustomed to sharing a bed with his brother. It made the realization of his overly quiet house even louder. He spent a long while thinking over what would happen when his brother left. As much as he loved having his brother staying with him he knew it couldn’t stay like that forever. Plus, Kankuro was a loud snorer and had a tendency to kick in his sleep. As much as he would miss his brothers company, no love would be lost when he finally left.

It was Kankuro’s last day staying with Gaara because even though Gaara’s life had temporarily been put to a halt, the world kept spinning for everyone else. The two brothers ended up at Temari’s house for a “family barbeque”. Gaara couldn’t help but think it was another attempt at the ruined one from a few days ago, but it was still a nice excuse to get out of what was starting to feel like an eternity in his apartment with only his brother for company.

When they got to her house Kankuro practically busted the side gate open while announcing their arrival. “The party has arrived!” He shouted standing proud and Gaara walked around from behind him into the back yard, completely unfazed by his brother and his… usual antics. Surveying the yard Gaara could see Shikadai sitting in a sand box where he had put together a mound of sand that had various green army men placed around it. Temari was lounging in a chair on the deck while Shikamaru was stood in front of the barbeque flipping burgers.

“I didn’t recall inviting losers to my party” Temari shouted back and taking a leisurely sip of a large glass of what Gaara could only assume was iced tea based on the brown colour.

“I come out to have a good time and yet I continue to be attacked” Kankuro deadpanned slamming the gate behind him and walked up to the deck to give his sister a hug to his laughing sister.

“I’m glad you guys made it!” Temari said as she gave Gaara a hug that he softly returned.

“Anything to get out of the house” Gaara replied laughing a bit.

Shikadai came running up to Kankuro jumping into his arms. “Uncle! Come and play soliders with me!” He demanded excitedly.

“Woah! I love playing soliders!” Kankuro said letting Shikadai pull him off to the sand box in the yard.

“Hey man glad you made it out” Shikamaru said to Gaara, giving a half wave from the grill.

“No problem” Gaara said giving a half wave back in return, sitting down in the chair next to Temari. Shikamaru turned back to his grill and lazily flipped a few burgers. Temari grabbed Gaara’s hand and Gaara looked to her.

“So how are you doing?” She asked, voice low and quiet squeezing his hand in hers.

“I’m…. ok, I’m doing ok” He replied giving her hand a small squeeze back. “I hate to admit it but I think I’m going to miss having Kankuro around” Gaara said laughing a bit.

Temari let out a bark of a laugh. “He’s such a goof but he’s our brother so we gotta love him” She said giving Gaara a toothy smile then looked out to Kankuro playing with Shikadai in the sandbox.

“Well isn’t that just the truth” Gaara mused also turning to look at his brother and nephew playing very excitedly. “It’s going to be quiet without him around though and I don’t know how I’m going to handle it” He continued. Temari looked back to Gaara and took another sip of her drink from the pink crazy straw.

“hmm… I guess your place is pretty quiet, isn’t it? Hey Shika! Sweetie, what do you think Gaara should do to liven up his place?” She yelled back to her husband.

“Marry a bothersome woman and have a kid” He yelled back not turning around to look at them.

“Hey!” She exclaimed fishing out an ice cube from her drink and throwing it at her husband, managing to hit him square in the back of the head. “You asked ME to marry YOU Ya know!” She grumbled.

Rubbing the back of his head Shikamaru snickered and looked back to her. “Well that’s what I did and it’s been pretty lively ever since” He said and took a few steps over to give her a quick peck on the lips that she returned with a smile. Straightening up he turn to Gaara. “you could also just get a pet too I guess. I know Kiba is always talking about his shelter and how there are pets that need homes.” He said grabbing a plate off the table and started back to the grill. “‘s just an idea I guess” He continued and gave a shrug.

“A pet sounds fun. You can get a nice fluffy cat or something” She said looking back to Gaara, taking another sip from her crazy straw.

“I guess?” Gaara returned. He never really had pets growing up. Temari had a fish once but it died after a few days. She cried for hours after their father flushed it down the toilet. His experience with pets’ sort of ends with that story though.

“Either way, Dinner’s served” Shikamaru stated, placing a big plate of cooked burger pattied and hotdogs on the patio table.

“Heck yeah!” Kankuro yelled from the yard running up to make himself up a plate with Shikadai following hot on his heels.

“Not so fast, the two of you better go wash up before you even think about plating up.” Temari said sternly to Kankuro and Shikadai. The two groaned and started dragging their feet across the deck through the patio door into the kitchen. Gaara laughed softly, smiling at the two of them. “At least I have one sensible brother.” She said smiling at Gaara.

“I suppose you do” Gaara said, smiling back.

_________________________________________

Family dinner the second time around went a lot better than the first originally had. Eventually, Gaara ended up back at home by himself. It had been a long time since he had been actually by himself between his time at the hospital and then living with his brother the last few days. Lying in bed that night the silence was thick and heavy, yet louder than anything he had heard in a long time. Gaara definitely missed his brothers company and he finally had to absolutely agree with what he had said before. Gaara’s apartment was too quiet.

Gaara rolled out of bed and walked across the room to his desk to grab his laptop. Gaara quickly hopped back into bed and stacked his pillows up against the headboard and wrapped a bunch of blankets around himself as the laptop booted to life. He sat cross-legged and put his laptop on the bed in front of him. Quickly signing in, he opened up the internet browser.

 

“How to take care of cat”


	4. The No Seatbelt Song

Gaara was sitting in his car riddled with anxiety. Maybe he shouldn’t have come. It was an incredibly impulsive decision. He didn’t do impulsive. He liked to think things out and weigh out his options and look into every single detail that could affect his decision. Yet here he was, parked outside the local humane society. Maybe he should have at least taken someone with him? He took some deep breaths. There was still time to leave, it wasn’t like he made an appointment, they weren’t expecting him here. He could just turn the car back on and go back to his apartment. Gaara ran his hands over the steering wheel once, then twice, then three times before he made up his mind. He was a grown man and he was going to go in there and look at some animals.

              Gaara got out and locked the car behind and him made his way to the front door of the large building. It looked a lot fancier than he expected for a place that held so many cats and dog. The glass door was covered in posters about pet adoption and why you should adopt instead of buy. Gaara pushed the door open to a very comfortable waiting area with a large desk. Gaara hesitated for a second, unsure of if he really wanted to go in when-

              “Oh hey dude!” Damn the guy at the front desk noticed him.

              “Hi.” Gaara replied and walked up to the desk. There was no turning back now.

              “You looking to adopt a pet today?” The guy asked him. Gaara took a quick glance at his name tag ‘Kiba’. Oh. This was the guy Shikamaru mentioned the other day.

              “I’m not entirely sure, I do want to look at some of the cats today though” Gaara replied.

              “Well hey, That’s great either way! We’ve got some great cats here that are super friendly and always looking to be pet,” Kiba laughed. “I’m Kiba by the way,” He said sticking his hand out to Gaara. “And that’s Akamaru, he’s my dog but also sort of the shelters mascot” He laughed gesturing behind him with his thumb at large dog white dog with long and floppy brown ears snoozing on the even larger dog bed behind the desk. Akamaru huffed at his name and continued sleeping.

              “Gaara.” He replied shaking Kibas hand.

              “Oh you’re Shikamaru’s wife’s brother!” Kiba said grabbing a clipboard and flipped through some papers looking for the right one before clipping it to the board. While Gaara hummed in agreement. He was in fact Shikamaru’s wife’s brother. Kiba handed the board to Gaara, “Here I just need you to fill out this form before you can go back to look at the animals, just standard procedure.”

              “Alright” Gaara said taking the board from him to start filling out his information.

              “So what do you think you’re looking for in a cat?” Kiba asked awhile Gaara filled out the form, leaning on the desk trying to make some casual conversation.

              “I was doing some research and I know I definitely want an adult cat.” Gaara responded thoughtfully. The idea of training a kitten sounded daunting and a little over his head, and in his internet search he decided that an adult cat would probably suit him better than a kitten. Besides, Gaara read a very informative blog post about older shelter cats struggling to get adopted and it really struck a chord in him.

              “Great choice man, there are so many great adult cats out there that miss out on the chance of a great home over kitten.” Kiba reasoned.

              “Yes, that’s what I was thinking.” Gaara said and finished filling out his form. He handed it over to Kiba, who accepted it excitedly.

              “You know what Gaara, I think you’re going to go home with a cat today even if you weren’t planning on it. We got some cute faces back there you won’t be able to resist” Kiba exclaimed while motioning Gaara to follow him around the desk. He opened up a door that lead to a room filled with cages.

              “Welcome to the Kitty Condos!” Kiba gestured grandly.

Gaara was starting to get the feeling that if Kankuro and Kiba ever got together it would lead to double the trouble. Still, Gaara started wandering around, looking into some of the cages. All of them were equipped with a little box and a little bed, and most them had a cat inside. Kiba followed a few paces behind Gaara giving explanations of some of the cats and the attitude of others. Occasionally Gaara would stick a finger through the bars of the cages to poke at the cats, some expected to be pet and others turned their nose up at him. The cats came in a variety of colours and sizes, weirdly enough most of them weird large and round. Kiba mentioned how it had to do with previous owners over feeding their cats. Gaara simply hummed in response.

Gaara found himself looking at a big white long haired cat with a grey patch that covered the top of its head and its ears, it looked a little worse for wear and Gaara saw himself reflected in its eyes.

“Yeah this is Shukaku, he is about 3 year old Siamese. He’s been here the longest, the poor guy. It’s mostly gotta do with the fact that he is an adult cat now but also ‘cause he is FIV positive.” Kiba started, Gaara looked up and gave him a bit of a confused look. “Oh yeah sorry, FIV is sort of like cat AIDS? It means he has a weak immune system. He will still live as long as any other cat as long as he properly taken care of.” He explained.

“Oh, I see” Gaara stated. He stuck his finger through the cage bars to poke at Shukaku. He wasn’t nearly as soft as the other cats, he felt greasy and full of grime. He needed a bath that was for sure. Shukaku turned and gave Gaara one of the dirtiest looks he had ever received in his whole life. Gaara was taken back for a second and then mostly just amused. “I like him.” Gaara whispered.

“I told you that you’d be going home with a cat today.” Kiba stated proudly.

That was true, Kiba did say that. Coming in today was a good idea and Gaara was starting to feel a lot better about his impulsive decision. Good enough that…

“I want to adopt him Kiba, this is the one.”

“Good choice.”

Adopting a cat involved filling out a lot of paper work. Not that Gaara minded, he was more than used to filling out paper work, it was practically his job, but it was still more than he expected for a cat. Then again getting a cat was a big decision. Yet here Gaara was standing in the entryway of his apartment holding a cat carrier with Shukaku inside, hissing a throwing a fit like the world was ending. Gaara put the carrier down on the ground and opened the door. Shukaku stilled inside the carrier for a solid minute before exploding out of the carrier like a bat out of hell. Gaara’s eyes widened cause even though he really should have been expecting that to happen, he wasn’t expecting that to happen. At all. Really Gaara was more surprised than anything by the sheer speed of the cat that bolted faster than lightening under the couch.

Gaara walked over to the couch and crouched down to his hands and knees and looked underneath at the glowing eyes staring back at him, calculating his every move. Gaara stared back for a while before Shukaku swiped at Gaara and got him on the face. Gaara quickly sat up and held his cheek where Shukaku had just scratched him. He pulled his hand away to see if he was bleeding, only to see that he was bleeding, he was bleeding a lot. Gaara quickly walked into the bathroom to assess the damage.

Cleaning up what Gaara was calling his new war wounds, he realized that he was in for more than he intended.


End file.
